Long, happy day at the easel. Started thinking I’d just work on the claws. There are only six and they are all small, discreet shapes. After I finished them, I decided to add another layer on the background. It would be the opposite of finicky, close work, all big brushes loaded with paint, broad stokes, and blending. No photo I can print looked right, so I hauled the actual panel up from the prop room and worked it. Much warmer color. I added some wood grain, though it was too wet to do more than suggest.

After lunch, I decided to tackle the brace of doves at the top of the canvas, which printed out a weird blue, but are actually a combination of fawn, olive, light neutrals, and gray-blues. I worked directly from the jpg using my iPad. Mixed colors and indicated feathers in a loose, painterly way. Here’s a closeup detail.

By now I was pretty tired but the thin, sketchy look of the shotgun bothered me. It’s a relatively simple shape (compared to feathers). I thought maybe I’d just add a little color to the wooden stock. One thing led to another.

In one way, it’s a big jump ahead. In another way, this is when the work really begins. Once I do a round on the pheasant it will be like having a solid first draft of a novella. Then it will slow down while I add details and push the values.

Back to Target Practice, adding more leaves and some textures to the lichen on the trunk.

A last minute sale of the Brace of Doves at the Swan Coach House Gallery show that closed last week that brought the number sold to four out of six pieces.

Picked up 8-Ball for the SCAA juried show and talked to my reps at Mason Murer. There’s a show in March that I’ll put the typewriters in.

There’s another show that opens May 9th – the gallery’s 10th anniversary. I’m going to aim to have the four main paintings in the Catch & Release series finished.

it seems forever away, but I know the 40×40″ is going to take slightly longer than eternity. I won’t actually be painting in April while I’m in Paris and Amsterdam, but everything will have a full month to dry. I’ll be able to varnish when I get back. Easy Peasy.

Today was back to painting, and was I ever happy to be in front of the easel with a brush in my hand.

Roughed in the magazines, tabletop and part of the crystal ball, plus another round on the dominoes. I’ll be beefing up the third domino from the right. It’s a tricky foreshortened perspective, but it needs to be wider overall and a hair broader at the end closest to the viewer. The dots come last, so don’t think they are all blanks.

Finished the photography for the next painting. Spoiled for choice, but dingdingding! We do have a winner.
Picked out the canvas size today – 16×20″ – which will make the painting close to life size. There are several photos of elements I’m interested in painting on their own, small objects like an unfurling typewriter ribbon and a calla lily, an eight-ball on top of a tarot card, or a votive candle next to an hourglass. Maybe something for those small works shows.

Tomorrow – an hour at the gym, more painting, a long nap, and then off to Mason Murer for the show.

Varnished and wired, 7:30am is ready for the Mason Murer show that opens April 5. Skywater is right on its heels.

Delivered Thirsty for the EcoFuture juried exhibition at Hambidge that will run through the beginning of June. Very pleased to be a part of that.

Painted the edges of the gallery wrap for the first time of my own volition. Carrying the dominant color to the sides, but not bending objects around the edge. Too time-space warp-ish for my taste.

Borrowing a nice old pre-electric Royal typewriter to paint. Itching to do it, not sure how I will set it up. Just ordered some vintage ribbons to include as part of the still life. Maybe my gold fountain pen and the love letters my grandparents exchanged. Thinking of papering the background with pages from books; fairytales, encyclopedias, poetry. Or possibly ships log, legal brief, accounting ledger. My favorite would be all of the above.

Home from a week in New Orleans to find another acceptance in the mail. Water, a personal favorite and part of the Elements series, was accepted for the South Cobb Arts Alliance show, World of Art, opening April 16.

Finishing up a direct descendant of Water, Skywater l, this afternoon. See the family resemblance?

Spent the morning out in the garage, varnishing 7:30 am. These two new works are going to Mason Murer, for the April 5 show.

If you can’t attend but would like to support the artist, go to my website, virginiaparker.net and click the Facebook LIKE icon on the upper left of the home page.

Easy, free, fast and helpful.

Yesterday I sent out an email to everyone who has ever expressed an interest in coming to one of my shows. It’s not my favorite part of my artist’s life – self promotion doesn’t come naturally to me – but I consider it due diligence, so I pull up my big girl panties and get on with it.

My fabulous spouse came up with the subject line of the email; Virginia’s Excellent Night Out. The idea is to take my work seriously. Myself, not so much. I created an event on Facebook too and gave it the same title. There is some overlap between the email list and my Facebook friends, but they are mostly two separate groups.

I’ve been handing out show cards left and right. This, I shamelessly enjoy. I’m proud of my work, and people know at a glance whether it appeals to them. There’s nothing manipulative or intrusive about it. No pressure, just a seductive bit of visual pleasure.

I scribble the opening date on the margin and explain that the show runs through the end of the year. I don’t print it on the cards, because so many people seem to think that if they don’t go to the opening, it’s over. My website, blog, and email are all on the card, so folks that are interested can find out the Where and When easily. I promise everyone they can find this information on my blog, and for the next couple of weeks I’ll post the show time/place at the top of the page.

I’ll upload an image of one of the paintings every other day or so on the Facebook event page. Ten works are in the show, which is about two weeks away, so that works out nicely. I’ll add little bits of information about them, just because I enjoy that. There is always a story with my work.

Did photography of the newly varnished paintings so I could send them along to the gallery and get them up on my website. Asked Robert to help me set up a c-stand with a flag so I could redirect/block light that bounced off the varnish – always an issue for me. He took over, and I let him. It’s good to be married to the Key Rigging Grip.

I was heading out to the carport, bright but indirect light, and he decided the kitchen was a better idea.
Here he is in action:

Once again:
The toughest one was BlueScreen, which had a diffused glare right in the center. He lowered the flag, tilted the canvas and I held up a black bounce card, which absorbs rather than ricochets light.
Victory.

My otherwise respectable refrigerator is a fluttering hodge podge of postcards, family photos, poems, receipts and a half-eaten dollar bill (bad dog). Also an inexcusable number of magnets purchased in art museum gift shops.